Jan Bones, of Sewing Lingerie, is one of my favorite instructors and pattern designers. She's practical, creative, and very pleasant. Her tips alone are worth buying her patterns, books, and taking her classes. She's saved me quite a bit of time and from mistakes.

I was thrilled to see an article of hers, It Takes Two, printed in Sew News June/July 2014 edition. While I've read the full article, I found that I've kept the magazine nearby to read a paragraph here and another there, then re-read them as I have a few moments. I really appreciate the article because she's taken the time to share lots of her wonderful tips and tricks around knits.

Jan defines 2-way knits as having stretch lengthwise and crosswise. Some patterns and folks in the industry call this 4-way. In the article, she talks about:

uses of 2-way knits

preparing the fabric

pinning & cutting

stitching suggestions

elastics & reasons to use elastics in knits designs

Jan's tips on preparing knits, stitching suggestions, and elastics are all things I regularly use in my sewing.

There are several other interesting articles in the June/July 2014 printing.

There's an adorable little summer satchel, with pockets reminiscent of your favorite jeans, that would be a great stash buster and perfect for your kids beach toys or for your beach trip needs: book, sunglasses and a towel. You can print the summer bag pattern here.

The long nightie with the lace front shown on pages 70 & 71 is Jan's Nice Nightie pattern. I have yet to make this, but I really love the simple elegance. I really enjoy sleeping in my Nightie for Knits.

For those who like Maxi dresses, imagine doing the Nice Nightie in a really wild, bright print with neon yellow lace. It is one of those patterns that can easily go from bed to ballroom.

For those who prefer shorter lengths, the Nice Nightie can easily be done and work perfectly for a swimsuit cover up. How lovely to have a knit flutter at your thighs while you dry from a swim. So many fun nylon mesh prints that could be perfect for a swim cover-up and they'd dry quickly.

I blog for many reasons. One of the most important is to connect and have conversations with other people who are eager to discuss not only techniques, but also ideas and adventures. Letting you know this has been rolling round my head for weeks now. I'm so excited that reading other blog posts has inspired me to share!

First of all, I just adored how Renee hugged the bolts of laces. What fun it must have been for a meet up of sewing bloggers?! And to meet each of these ladies would have been crazy wild fun... think of the brainstorming and inspiration session that could have taken place. Wild. I love to brainstorm. I love to discuss possibilities and ideas.

Secondly, I've been to the Netherlands (almost 10 years ago) and loved it. Fascinated. The women wore mini skirts and stiletto boots and cycled with umbrellas in hand in cold and rainy November. Mind blowing. I did buy fabric in Eindhoven (oh God I was figuring out meter to yard conversions on the fly), picked up some cool vintage trims, the cutest stove top espresso maker, and fun bicycle bags at Kitsch Kitchen in the Jordaan district of Amsterdam. Travel definitely enriches the fabric of our lives.

Kitsch Kitchen in Amsterdam, Netherlands. Source: overdose.am

Catching up on Renee's Cycling Sport Dress post (travel & athletic wear? I'm intrigued!), I followed a link to Sewing Artistry and fell in love with her cycling gear. Aren't those bicycles scatter printed just a hoot?!

Well, then I stumbled upon her most recent post, Fashion in the Age of the Cheap. Oh boy! Another person who is interested in ideas. Goodie Goodie Gosh! And her post is so wonderfully connected to my own philosophies, yet touches on a different facet that she got me thinking...

﻿We only make change when we "vote with our feet" as I learned in the principles of the un-conference and product camp. Our recent losses of shops and businesses make it clear that where we spend time & money is what we keep alive. While I'm sad to see many leave, I'm also grateful for how clear an example they have shown of the importance our individual vote or dollar has. So many haven't chosen certain things because they felt their vote or dollar didn't really count amongst the sea of others. Well, it does and it did.

You touch on subjects that run very close to home. I love how everyone is refocusing to make as many conscious choices as they can. It's not easy, but worth it.

I wonder, could the focus on fast & cheap fashion could be considered an outlet that is needed for "thrill" category. How much do we need to be thrilled? How much do we need to keep being inspired? Or, are we happier when we have fewer thrills and get to glorify them and tell stories of their greatness. I haven't the answer, but your comments about how we wouldn't treat food or homes or computers the same way as food got me wondering if we value clothing so much less and that we can bring to market so much faster and cheaper (in some ways) than in past, that it became an easy target.

That also gets me wondering, if we took the thrill of fast & cheap fashion away, what falls in its place? Food? Experiences? And how many people who move away from this FCF life actually live fully in the conscious life rarely sliding backwards? I feel like I go 2 steps forward, 1 step back at times. Truly a zig zag.﻿

What are your thoughts on Fashion in the Age of the Cheap and the need for a "Thrill" in our lives? Are you choosing to live differently and consume less? Does that impact your sewing? I'd love to read your comments.

Please do visit Sewing Artistry's blog and leave comments there too. Hooray for another brilliant mind. (That's no discount to anyone else. Rather a celebration of discovering a kindred spirit - and those come in all shapes, sizes and around many, many different ideas and topics)